


Giving Thanks

by blakefancier



Series: Young Lovers [48]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:33:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blakefancier/pseuds/blakefancier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howard has the family, both his and Steve's, over for Thanksgiving. It's not as bad as he thought it was going to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giving Thanks

**Author's Note:**

> Now I get to work on the December 17th fic. Bwaha, hahaha, hahahahahahahahahaha!

It was a quiet Sunday: Howard had no pressing issues at work, Steve was with his mother, and Tony was sleeping off whatever he'd done on Saturday night. Days like these were rare, so Howard spent the morning rebuilding a Cessna engine he'd acquired a few months back. 

It was nice. 

Howard stopped about noon, when he could no longer ignore the growling of his stomach. He washed his hands and went upstairs to see if Jarvis would make him a sandwich. He did a slight double take when he entered the kitchen and saw Steve sitting at the breakfast bar, typing away on Howard's spare laptop.

"I thought today was Sunday," he said with a frown.

Steve looked up from the screen and smiled. "It is. Maria came over and I figured that was my cue to take a hike. I told Mom that I was going to the library to work on my college applications."

Yeah, Howard was pretty sure that Sarah hadn't fallen for that. "If Maria's getting in the way of your mother-son time, I can talk to her."

"No, it's all right." Steve shook his head. "Normally, I don't mind, but she's been acting weird lately. I think she's trying to bond with me." 

"And you don't want to bond with her?" Howard opened the fridge and began to take out ingredients for sandwiches. "Hungry?"

"I could eat." Steve closed the laptop and shrugged. "It's just weird. It's been my mom and me for so long, I just… It's suffocating sometimes." He sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, we can talk about something else." Howard laid out the ingredients and began making the sandwiches. "How are the college applications coming?"

"Ugh, it's so much work. They want to know *everything*." Steve made a face. "Speaking of college applications, you still need to write me a couple of letters of recommendation?" 

"Sure." Howard waved the butter knife in the air. "Dear Dean of Admissions, Steven Grant Rogers would be an excellent addition to your school. His oral skills are exemplary and his body… of work, is a masterpiece." 

Steve laughed. "Yeah, that was funnier the first time. But I have to admit, with a letter like that, I'm sure to get into NYU." 

"You're thinking about NYU?"

"NYU, Empire State, and a couple of others." Steve leaned over, took a pickle from the jar, and popped it in his mouth with a smile. 

Howard finished making the sandwiches and frowned. "Where's Jarvis? He usually doesn't let me get this far without taking over." Howard brought the knife to his mouth, but before he could do anything, Steve plucked it out of his hand. 

"That's because he knows you'll lick the knife. You're gonna cut your tongue one of these days!"

"Okay, first of all, that's a butter knife. And secondly, I lick the flat of the blade; only an idiot would lick the edge." He handed Steve a sandwich, then picked up his own. "But seriously, where's Jarvis?" 

"My mom sent him a grocery list this morning. She figured it'd be easier to have him pick up everything rather than lug all the food here from Brooklyn." Steve took a big bite of his sandwich.

"I see," Howard said, tone bland, as he took a seat and bit into his own sandwich.

Steve rolled his eyes and wiped his mouth. "Don't be like that. It'll be fun, you'll see." 

"Dinner with my ex-wife and my boyfriend's mother, both who have very good reasons to hate me. Oh, yeah, it's going to be a blast. I can hardly wait."

"Maria doesn't hate you." Steve leaned over with a smile and wiped Howard's mustache with his thumb. Then he licked said thumb; the gesture was familiar and it went straight to Howard's cock.

"You don't mention your mom." His voice was a little breathless.

"Well, my mom's not happy with you." Steve's smile turned naughty. "After all, you're doing dirty, nasty things to her little boy."

"Why don't you tell me some of the dirty nasty things I'm doing to you?"

Steve's face flushed and he squirmed slightly. "You fuck my mouth, make me choke and gag on your cock while you call me dirty names. Like… like whore and slut and… and…" 

"My little fuck toy." Howard's own face grew hot, but his words made Steve gasp. "Gonna spread your legs and tease your greedy cunt until you beg me to use you. That's what you want, isn't it, cumslut? You want me to fuck your cunt until it's loose and wet and completely ruined."

Steve stared at Howard with glazed eyes, panting softly, kneading his cock through his pants. "Please."

Fuck, Steve was gorgeous like this and Howard wanted to take him upstairs and wreck him. But he also wanted to finish his sandwich. Howard smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Finish your lunch and if you're a good boy, I'll take care of you."

Steve's eyes widened in surprise and for a moment Howard thought he'd protest. But a moment later, Steve lowered his eyes and said, softly, "Yes, sir." 

***** 

Howard's heart was hammering in his chest, his mouth was dry, and for a brief moment, he considered calling off whatever the hell they were planning on doing. He would have, but Steve looked so excited, so beautiful. Howard locked the bedroom door behind them, then turned to Steve and said, "Take off your clothes and get on your knees."

Steve pulled off his shirt, then fumbled with his jeans, and Howard had to turn away otherwise… otherwise…

Howard turned away and took his time undressing. He was hot and sweaty and his cock was as hard as a fucking piece of rebar. When he was undressed, he took the lube and condoms from the nightstand and tossed them on the bed. After a fortifying breath, he turned around and couldn't help the small 'oh' that escaped his lips.

Steve was on his knees, hands on his thighs, his body flushed, cock hard and leaking.

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. He moved closer so he could run his fingers through Steve's tousled hair. "What's your safeword, babe?" 

"Red," Steve said, leaning into Howard's touch.

"And what color are you now?"

Steve flashed him a quick smile. "I'm green, sir."

"Good," Howard said. "That's very good. We're both green." Then he backed up slowly, until the backs of his legs hit the bed, and he sat down. He spread his legs, his eyes never leaving Steve. "Crawl over here." 

"Yes, sir." Steve moved onto his hands and knees and slowly crawled over. The smile on his face was subtle, but Howard could tell he found humor in this; that helped.

When Steve was settled between his legs, Howard opened the condom and placed it in Steve's mouth. "Without your hands."

Steve rolled his eyes, but positioned the condom with his tongue—it had taken quite a few blowjobs before he'd managed to get this right. They'd both enjoyed the process. Steve gripped the base of Howard's cock and leaned forward, rolling the condom on with his mouth. Then he pulled back and gently sucked on the head, tongue teasing Howard.

"Get me nice and wet. It's the only lube you're gonna get tonight. " Which wasn't true, but it was nice fantasy. He groaned when Steve swallowed his cock, the heat and pressure a sweet torture. "Good boy. God, you're such a fucking good boy. Your sweet, cock-sucking mouth is perfect." He jerked his hips forward, heard the sound of Steve gagging, felt the convulsive tightness of his throat. Howard held it there a moment, just a moment, before pulling out completely. He rubbed his thumb over Steve's wet, swollen lips. "Color?"

"Green," Steve said in a hoarse, greedy voice and nipped at Howard's thumb.

Howard cupped the back of Steve's head and urged him up for a kiss, their mouths sliding over each other. "Love you," Howard murmured into his mouth. 

Steve shuddered, then moaned softly. "Please, I don't want to wait anymore. I want you."

Howard nodded because when it came to Steve he couldn't help himself, and Steve eagerly climbed up onto the bed. He laughed, grabbing the lube as he settled himself behind Steve. He slicked his fingers and rubbed them against Steve's hole, which clenched and tightened. 

"Howard," Steve whined, trying to push back onto Howard's fingers.

He huffed and pinched Steve's ass. "Behave or I'll leave you like this." That wasn't going to happen and they both knew it, but Steve settled down. He smeared a bit more lube onto Steve's hole, trailing his thumb down Steve's perineum, then sliding it back up to tease at the tantalizing hole.

Steve buried his face in the pillows and moaned, hips twitching in abortive movements.

"Good boy." Howard's cock throbbed with impatience and he decided that he'd done enough tormenting. He pressed his cock against Steve and pushed in, slowly. He'd used just enough lube to ease his way, but Steve would still feel the burn of every inch.

"Oh, god," Steve said, eagerly pushing back on Howard's cock. "You're humongous."

Howard let out a bark of laughter. "Flatterer." 

"It's my ass getting reamed. I think I get to decide if your cock's enormous." 

He shoved in the rest of the way and the rest of what Steve might have said was lost in a very loud moan. When he was completely sheathed, he gave himself a moment to get used to the almost virgin-tight clench of Steve's hole. Not that Steve gave him very much time before wiggling and begging. "Slut," Howard said fondly, then pulled back and shoved in, just to hear Steve wail. The second time was for himself. As was the third, and by then he couldn’t stop, not with Steve rocking against his thrusts, moaning like there was no tomorrow. 

"Oh god, oh please, Howard!" Steve reached underneath himself and started jacking off. "Harder, please, fuck me harder!"

Howard did, knowing that Steve could take it, knowing that Steve fucking loved it. And he loved it, too. He dug his fingers into Steve's hips and rammed his cock into the tight heat, his balls slapping against Steve's ass.

"God!" Steve cried out, his whole body tensing as he came. 

The shift was enough to set Howard off, too—his orgasm crashing through him like waves. It left him shaking with exhaustion, but he managed to pull out and toss the condom before collapsing on the bed. "Color?"

"Orgasmic," Steve said, a smile on his face and Howard chuckled.

"I'll take that as an enthusiastic 'green'."

They were both quiet and for a moment, Howard thought Steve had fallen asleep. Then Steve lifted his head and said, "I'm really excited for Thanksgiving."

Howard yawned and stretched. "So am I."

Steve snickered. "No, you're not." 

"No, I'm not," he answered truthfully. "But I'm happy that you're excited. What time are you coming over on Thursday? Do you need a ride?"

"No, Maria's bringing us. We should be here pretty early to get everything started, but don't worry about getting up. I'll let us in." Steve snuggled closer to Howard. "It'll be great."

Howard wasn't so sure about that, but all he did was kiss Steve's forehead and say, "It'll be perfect, babe." 

***** 

Howard was not always his best before his first cup of coffee. Not when he spent most of the night before finishing up a project that needed to get done by Friday and he knew that Steve wouldn't let him slip away to work.

So he padded downstairs in his pajama pants, a ratty t-shirt, and Steve's stupid Killer Bunny slippers, because damned if he could find his own. When he stepped into the kitchen he was greeted by, well, everyone. He blinked stupidly for a moment, then Steve got up from the breakfast bar and poured Howard a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," he said, kissing Howard on the cheek.

"What time is it?" The kitchen was warm and smelled like thyme and cinnamon, but both Sarah and Maria were looking at him like he'd stepped into the kitchen naked. He looked down at himself just to make sure he was dressed. Yup, he was good. He took a sip of his coffee.

"A little after seven," Sarah said and resumed whatever the hell she was doing to the turkey.

Steve led Howard to the breakfast bar and urged him to sit down. "I'll get you a bagel."

Howard grunted and took a gulp of his coffee.

"Nice slippers." Maria smirked at him as she sliced apples.

"Bite me." He'd only had three hours of sleep and he had a feeling that was all he was going to get today. 

Steve handed Howard a whole-wheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese and frowned. "Howard, you promised." 

"Good morning, Maria. What a lovely blouse you're wearing. Kiss my ass." Howard took a bite of his bagel and Maria laughed.

"You're incorrigible." Steve smoothed Howard's hair back and kissed his forehead. "What time did you get to bed last night?" 

"About four. But I got that project done so I'm all yours today." The smile Steve gave him was worth the utter exhaustion he felt.

"You can sneak off for a nap later," Steve murmured softly, then wiped at Howard's mustache with his thumb. "Cream cheese." 

Howard hummed softly and hooked a finger in the belt loop of Steve's jeans. He tugged and Steve came forward willingly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Steve said, a slight smile on his lips. He leaned in and maybe they would have kissed but Sarah cleared her throat.

"Steve, I need you to put the turkey in the oven for me."

Steve sighed and stepped back. "Sure, Mom."

Howard turned back to his breakfast, ignoring Maria's snickering. When he was done with the bagel, he poured himself another cup of coffee, and wandered back upstairs to get dressed and wake Tony. 

The next time he appeared in the kitchen, he was properly dressed for visitors. Tony was sitting at the breakfast bar, his face in a bowl of cereal, Maria was nowhere to be seen, and Sarah was rolling dough. Steve was happily—if the humming was anything to go by—peeling potatoes.

Steve grinned and gestured to him. "Hey, you look more awake. Pull up a chair and help me peel these potatoes."

"Um, sure." Howard sat down and picked up a spare peeler. He watched Steve for a bit, just to get the mechanics down, then got to it. It was a lot harder than he expected. The potatoes got slippery once you started peeling and the peeler was designed poorly and he was getting peel all over the place.

"Wow, okay, I think you're worse than Maria." Steve took the potato and peeler away from him. 

"I could make a better potato peeler," he said, feeling a little defensive and more than a bit embarrassed.

"I’m sure you could, Howard." Sarah looked over her shoulder at them. "Maybe you could find us a bottle of wine for dinner?"

"Now that I can definitely do." He washed his hands and then went down to the cellar to bring up a few bottles of a red that would pair well with turkey and a sparkling, sweet wine that Jarvis pulled out when he brought Howard a snack. 

Howard might not be a cook, but he could put together a cheese and cracker platter better than anyone. He brought out the platter, then opened the bottle and began pouring.

"It's a little early for wine, don't you think?" Sarah frowned at the glass he presented to her.

"You've been up for hours," he said. "Besides, it's late somewhere."

She hesitated for a moment longer, but in the end she took the glass and sipped it. "Mm, nice."

He poured two more glasses and handed one to Maria.

"Can I have some?" Tony asked.

Maria rolled her eyes and got Tony a Coke. "You can have a small glass of wine with dinner and when you're done with that, you can have the sparkling cider that's in the fridge."

Tony made a face but didn't push it.

Howard sipped his wine and watched Steve and Sarah move around the room with an ease that he envied. It was obvious that they'd done this before, countless times, and it was old hat for them now.

"What did you tell your mother?" Maria asked and Howard looked at her, surprised. She, too, was watching Sarah and Steve, a small smile gracing her lips.

"I told her that I had a previous engagement."

Maria laughed. "She must have loved that."

As a matter of fact, she had spent a good half hour telling him exactly how ungrateful and horrible he was, until he couldn’t stand it anymore and cut her off. "Yeah, she wasn't happy."

"You should have invited your mother to stop by, Howard," Sarah said.

Howard glanced her way; Steve was shaking his head at her. "No, I don't think anyone would have liked that. My mother is very…."

"She's a bitch." Maria was good about getting straight to the point.

"Yeah," Howard sighed. 

Sarah looked curious, like she wanted to ask, but instead picked up a bag of marshmallows and turned back to the sweet potatoes.

***** 

When everything was done, Sarah handed him a knife, gestured to the turkey, and said, "Steve thought that you should have the honor."

"Oh." He felt strangely pleased by that. So while he meticulously cut the turkey—this he could do—the others set out the rest of the food and poured the wine. Everyone was settled when he brought in the platter of turkey. They smiled when he put it down and sat at the head of the table. While he'd had his doubts about today, he had to admit that this had been a good idea. 

Steve touched his arm and shook his head when Howard reached for a roll. "We usually say grace then go around the table and say one thing that we're thankful for." 

Howard drew back his arm and bowed his head as Sarah said grace. Then Steve looked at Howard and asked if he wanted to say what he was thankful for. "Um, sure. I'm grateful for… for… being lucky enough to have everything I could ever want."

"And I'm thankful for being the son of a man who is lucky enough to have everything he could ever want because that trickles down to me," Tony said. 

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'm thankful for finding someone to love." 

Sarah blushed at that. "As am I. And I'm thankful for having a wonderful son with a big heart."

Steve looked around the table, grinning widely, and said, "I'm grateful that I get to spend today with the people that I love. Now let's eat, because I'm hungry!"

A few minutes later, their plates were full and everyone was chattering happily about the holidays. 

"So, Steve, are you almost done with your college applications?" Maria asked, pouring herself a bit more wine.

"Almost. Howard said he'd write me a letter of recommendation and I need to rewrite my essays, then I'll be good to go. It'll be a big load off my shoulders when I'm done."

"I don't think you ever told me where you're applying." Maria nudged Howard and he looked over at her curiously.

Steve shrugged and Howard could see he was not happy about the line of questioning. "Empire State, NYU, and a couple of other local colleges." 

"And UCLA," Sarah said firmly.

"Mom, it's too far away and the tuition is expensive, even if I did get in." This was obviously an old argument. 

Sarah put down her fork. "Steve, you have wanted to go to UCLA since you were a little boy."

"It's too far away. I wouldn't be able to come home for holidays and weekends. And what if something happened while I was gone?"

Maria kicked him on the shin, hard, and he realized, finally, what this was about. "Were you planning to ditch me before you started college."

Steve blinked and did a slight double take. "What?"

"Steve, I'm rich. Not only that, but I own my own plane. If you moved to LA, it would give me an excuse to fly more often, which I would love. And your mom could tag along." Howard shrugged. 

"I couldn’t ask you to do that, Howard. You're a busy guy." 

"Stark Industries has offices in Los Angeles—it's our main base of operations for research on alternative energy sources. Obi is always hounding me to visit more often." Howard took Steve's hand and squeezed it. "If you really don't want to go, that's one thing, no one is going to force you. But if you really want to go to UCLA, Steve, you should. I'll make sure you get home for the holidays and that you and your mom can visit whenever you want. And I'll take care of tuition."

Howard expected Sarah to protest, so did Steve because he looked at her, but she was silent.

"You don't have to do that," Steve said.

"I know." Howard brought Steve's hand to his mouth and kissed it. "I want to."

The smile Steve gave him made Howard want to pull him upstairs. "Okay, I'll apply to UCLA."

Howard made a mental note to make some calls to the college, maybe make a donation or two. If Steve wanted to go to UCLA, then dammit, that's where he was going to go.

***** 

After dinner, Sarah forced them all to help clean the kitchen, even though Howard assured her that he could call someone in. He whined so much that Sarah put him in charge of putting away the leftovers, which wasn't so bad because he could nibble as he worked.

When the kitchen was spotless, they retired to the living room, put on a Christmas movie—because it was post-Thanksgiving dinner—and had more wine. 

He wasn't drunk, but he'd had enough wine that everything was fuzzy around the edges, so he didn't tense up when Steve snuggled up against him on the couch. He kissed Steve's temple and stroked his hair. "Oh, Maria, Annie said you hadn't RSVP'd for the company Christmas party this year. Which was a bit of a surprise since I hadn't realized I invited you."

Tony looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, um, I added her to the list." He didn’t explain why and Howard didn’t ask.

"When is it again? The sixteenth of December?" At Howard's nod, she turned to Sarah and asked, "Would you like to come to a party with me?"

Sarah blushed prettily. "I'd love to, but I work almost every day until the twentieth. Steve and I are going to Pittsburg for Christmas. I have some cousins who invited us for the holidays."

Steve tensed against Howard, but didn't say anything. 

"Then I think I'll just stay home, but thank you for the invite, Howard." Maria sipped her wine and leaned her head on Sarah's shoulder.

"Steve got an invite, too," Tony said. "He's my PA, so that means he's an employee."

"And the seventeenth is the start of my winter break. Can I go to the party, Mom? Please?" Steve gave her a pleading look. "The Stark Industries' Christmas parties are always amazing, I hear."

"They really are." Howard shrugged. "We hold them at my family estate up in Richford. The party costs me a fortune, but everyone deserves it."

Sarah didn’t look so excited about the prospect, but Steve's puppy dog eyes must have gotten to her because in the end she agreed to let him go. 

***** 

Howard wasn’t sure how many bottles they'd gone through, but at some point he closed his eyes and didn't open them again until Steve lifted him up into a fireman's carry.

"Whoa!" The world careened around him, but when it righted itself, there was Steve's ass in all its glory. Howard gave it a few playful pats. "Nice. So where did everybody go?"

"Tony and I put our moms to bed." Steve walked slowly, for which Howard was grateful. "And now it's time for you to get tucked in."

Howard hummed softly, happily patting Steve's ass. "Today was a good day. I'm glad you set this up." 

"Yeah, me, too. I'm just sorry that I won't be here for Christmas." Steve sighed. "No matter how much I try, she won't change our plans."

"I'll miss you, but you'll be home for New Year's, right?" He wanted to kiss Steve at midnight.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Steve gently laid him on the bed and helped him change into his pajamas. Neither of them said much of anything until they were snuggled under the covers. "Thank you, Howard. Thank you for today and for UCLA and… and for everything." 

"You deserve it." Howard pulled Steve into a sloppy, drunken kiss. "You deserve everything."

"I love you, too." Steve laughed softly and hugged him. "Now go to sleep."

Howard nodded and closed his eyes. It didn't take him long to drift off.


End file.
